Olori Folashade Adeyemi, one of the many wives of 82-year-old Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi has shared some rather charming details of her love life with the monarch. From being a curious student on an excursion to the Alaafin’s palace many years back, to accepting his marriage proposal thereafter, longing for a child to call hers in the first three years of their union, the mum-of-3 bares it all in a new interview with the Nation.
The queen shared also in the interview eye-opening details of the romantic side of her octogenarian hubby and what makes him so endearing to his big family.
Folashade went down memory lane on how she met the monarch when she was 25 years old.
”I met him for the first time when I was on an excursion to the palace.
During the excursion, I asked him so many questions. Probably that was where he took interest in me.
I requested to have an interview with him to know more and develop the project I was working on.
I was just 25 years old then. We became familiar and he later proposed marriage.”
When asked what attracted her to the monarch when they started dating and ended up getting married, she said
He is wise and intelligent. Most times when he is not in the office or attending to visitors, he is in the library reading.
He reads a lot and encourages us to read too. At times he would tell you to look for the meaning of a word; you will be surprised that he would tell you the meaning of that word as it is written in the dictionary or on Google.
He is such a wonderful man. His depth of knowledge is unrivaled.
He is also a unique Yoruba monarch. He is popular and brilliant, and there is no place he cannot go as a Yoruba oba.
Alaafin is the first among the Yoruba obas. The way he does his things are different.’
Olori Folashade described the monarch as a very romantic man.
Kabiyesi is very romantic. If you are not close to him, you won’t know that he is loving and kind.
At times when I’m in the kitchen, he would come and offer to assist.
While at the college, he would dish food for me and instruct the driver to bring it to school.
The difference in our age gap has not stopped him from showing affection.
He shows affection more than some of these young men you see outside there.
What a young man can do out there, Kabiyesi does better.
She said she was afraid when she moved into his home as his wife.
”Yes, I was afraid. You know I was coming from a different background to join others.
I didn’t know what I was going to meet or how others would react, and so many other questions were raging in my mind.
But when I got into the palace, I discovered that my fears were unnecessary.
The ayabas (queens) were very good to me. I got a warm reception.
They taught me palace ethics, how to dress, how to combine colours, the rules and regulations of the palace and tradition.
The ayabas were wonderful and friendly.”
The mum of a set of triplets recounted the joy she had when she welcomed her babies. According to her, she is the first queen to give birth to triplets in Yoruba land.
”Before giving birth to the triplets, I faced a lot of challenges. I waited for three years before they came.
First, while looking up to God for children to come, I went to hajj in 2008 and prayed to God to give me twins, but in answering my prayer, He gave me triplets.
Kabiyesi prefers that his wives give birth early. So, the three years I had waited, Allah compensated me with three children.
Even if there was no delay, I couldn’t have had more than three children in those three years.
Secondly, I’m also the first queen in Yoruba land to give birth to triplets. Go and check history.
I don’t know if any other wife of a Yoruba king will give birth to four tomorrow, but I’ve set a record.
I know several wives of Yoruba monarchs with twins, but not triplets.”
she said.
Olori Folashade also said she can “swear with her life” that her fellow queen never did not have an extra-marital affair as was widely rumoured.
In April this year, rumors were rife online that Olori Ajoke, one of the wives of the 82-year-old monarch, was sent packing from the palace over her alleged affair with music maestro, KWAM1. The Musician and the Olori came out to deny the allegation. KWAM in an interview said it was even a taboo to harbor such a thought let alone acting on it.
”The incident was quite unfortunate. All those things that you heard were mere fabrications. Such a thing never happened. They were all lies.
The story really made all of us sad when it broke, because we knew that such a thing never happened.
Unknown to many, KWAM 1 is well known in the palace. He takes us as his mothers.
He treats us with respect. I can swear that such a thing never happened.”
